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IMPORTANT RENEW MY CHURCH UPDATE - MAY 18, 2022
DISCERNMENT PROCESS AND OUTCOME - NEXT STEPS
> CLICK HERE - PROCESS OUTCOME AND NEXT STEPS (PDF)
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IMPORTANT RENEW MY CHURCH UPDATE - MARCH 5
YOUR FEEDBACK IS REQUESTED
Dear St. Christina Community:
As you probably know, the official announcement around our Renew My Church "fate" that was originally expected the last week of January was deferred until at least later this month. We were told the Archdiocese needed additional time to consider the very direct feedback from our grouping that the three scenarios given to us by the Arch would ultimately prove to weaken the faith life of our local communities, not strengthen it. Since, similar feedback has arisen during early discussions among the St. Barnabas and Christ the King grouping, and an additional alternate scenario for the Archdiocese to consider has been proposed.
Specifically, each of the five parishes in the two groupings (SJF, Cajetan, Christina, CK, and Barnabas) would remain technically separate and independent with separate places of worship, parish councils, schools, etc. but commit to a "Collaborative Ministry Plan" that would involve closer coordination and joint support of a number of specific initiatives and ministries in order to improve area-wide evangelization efforts. Further, the proposal assumes, among other shared responsibilities across parishes, one of the pastors of SJF, Christina, CK, or Barnabas would also be assigned the pastorate of Cajetan in the near-term as the first step in a longer-term transition to a likely maximum of two pastors available to lead the five parishes.
To further discuss this alternate scenario, we invite you to a town hall meeting similar to the one we had in October. It will be this coming Tuesday, March 8th, St. John Fisher Church at 7:00 pm. In the meantime or if you cannot make the in-person meeting, you can find more details about this scenario in this COLLABORATIVE MINISTRY PLAN (CLICK HERE) pdf document. After reading or hearing more about this new alternate scenario, we ask you to please complete the survey linked here (RENEW MY CHURCH ALTERNATE SCENARIO(S) SURVEY - CLICK HERE), so that we can properly provide your feedback to the Archdiocese. Survey responses are needed by Friday, March 11th.
Thank you for your feedback, continued prayers, and support of our parish.
Your Renew My Church Grouping Discernment Team,
Fr. Tom,
Fr. Wayne, Deacon Stan, Sr. Ann Vincent, Karen Degner and Mary Stokes
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LETTER FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO
RENEW MY CHURCH - JANUARY 13, 2022
Dear Parishioners of St. Cajetan, St. Christina and St. John Fisher,
First, please know of my prayers for you as we begin the new calendar year.
As Cardinal Cupich’s Liaison for Renew My Church, I lead the Renew My Church (RMC) Executive Committee who reviews each grouping. The other members of the RMC Executive Committee are your regional vicar Bishop Andrew Wypych, our Vicar General Bishop Robert Casey, as well as the archdiocese’s Chief Operating Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Superintendent of Catholic Schools. We have the great joy of meeting with each grouping to have a live discussion about the feedback emerging from your discernment.
On behalf of the RMC Executive Committee, please accept our gratitude for the hard work your Grouping Feedback & Discernment Team (GFDT) has done over the recent months. We had a rich conversation with members of the GFDT on December 13th about the feedback report submitted for your grouping. Your GFDT should be commended for their excellent discernment and feedback.
In our Executive Committee discernment following your GFDT’s feedback, we feel strongly we need more time to follow up on some questions and concerns that remain before confirming a recommendation for Cardinal Cupich to consider. This means there will not be a decision this month about your grouping’s parish structure. We expect to be able to bring a recommendation to Cardinal Cupich that allows him to make a decision in early March. We want to ensure the recommendation that goes to Cardinal Cupich will honor the feedback from your grouping and best serve the future needs of the local Church in your area.
We know the Lord remains with us, and we will be strengthened by keeping each other in prayer.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. Jason Malave - Cardinal’s Liaison for Renew My Church
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RENEW MY CHURCH UPDATE
NOVEMBER 21, 2021
Thank you to all for the insightful feedback given to the Renew My Church Committee at our Parish Meeting and through the church and online surveys. The committee has worked diligently to create a document that reflects the sentiments and thoughts provided.
The document will be presented to the Presbyteral Council on December 13, 2021 by the St. Christina, St. Cajetan and St. John Fisher grouping teams. The Council will then discuss the feedback and document regarding the 3 different scenarios and the Alternative Scenario with Cardinal Cupich, who will make his final decision by the end of January.
Please continue to pray as the discernment process continues for our three parishes. St. Christina Grouping Team,
Fr. Tom Conde, Fr. Wayne Svida,
Sr. Ann Vincent,
Deacon Stan Rakauskas,
Mrs. Karen Degner, and
Mrs. Mary Stokes
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RENEW MY CHURCH UPDATE
OCTOBER 26, 2021
> CLICK FOR RMC GROUPING SCENARIOS (PDF)
> TAKE FEEDBACK SURVEY NOW
Dear St. Christina Parish Families,
We would like to thank everyone who attended the meeting several weeks ago and all who participated in the survey. Writing teams from all three parishes looked at them and noticed that most of the comments were almost alike which shows we are thinking the same way. A majority of the people suggested that Scenario A, which is all three parishes retain their current structure would be the correct decision, however, this decision is up to the Cardinal to make, not us!
The writing team gave the pros and cons for each of the Scenarios to be given to the Recommendation Commission who will then present them to the to the Cardinal. The writing team will make the presentation toward the end of November. The Cardinal will make his decision in January, first to the Pastors and then to the public (newspapers) that same weekend and the Pastor will notify the parishioners. We as the team will meet one more time, so keep on praying for us and that the Holy Spirit will lead the Cardinal to make the right decision for all three parishes, St John Fisher, St. Cajetan, and St. Christina.
We all know that change is hard to accept sometimes, but with God’s help, as a community of believers, we can weather the storm together. Please continue to pray the Renew My Church prayer below.
St. Christina Grouping Team,
Fr. Tom Conde, Fr. Wayne Svida,
Sr. Ann Vincent,
Deacon Stan Rakauskas,
Mrs. Karen Degner, and
Mrs. Mary Stokes
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PRAYER FOR “RENEW MY CHURCH”
Lord Jesus, you speak to us today, as you spoke to holy men and women who have gone before us.
In every age and in our own time, you call to us and say: Renew My Church.
Pour out the gift of your Holy Spirit upon us, and so enable us to hear you clearly, to listen to each other attentively, to imagine our future boldly, to discern your direction wisely, to persevere in your holy will courageously, to stay together in charity, to surrender our own plans readily, to embrace the greater good, to hand on your gifts to future generations.
May we remain in the holy company of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the apostles and all the saints.
May their example and presence inspire us with patient confidence in the work of your grace.
We ask this of you who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
Amen.
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OUR PARISH GROUPING
Renew My Church is a proactive, strategic effort to ensure the sustainable growth of our church for the future. Renew My Church is meant to ensure that all parishes are vibrant, vital and life-giving and have the resources they need to carry out the mission of the Church.
The heart of our Renew My Church efforts is the parish grouping process – the goal of which is to ensure that all parishes across the Archdiocese have the vision, leadership, resources, and operational foundation necessary to create an effective culture of evangelization that makes disciples, builds communities, and inspires witness.
St. Christina Parish, in conjunction with St. John Fisher and St. Cajetan parishes, is presently undergoing this process. Members of the committee have met several times with our grouping parishes of St. John Fisher and St. Cajetan and members from the RMC leadership team. We had some good discussions on some scenarios that have been presented by the Archdiocese and some new ones were presented by the parishes.
We as a group have brought forward some of the strengths and challenges that each parish faces. A more detailed informational meeting for parishioners was scheduled and presented on October 5, 2021. Different scenarios were offered to strengthen all three parishes in our grouping. We will then submit your input to the Renew My Church Board for discussion. The Cardinal makes the final decision on the outcome.
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RENEW MY CHURCH - RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION
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